Laos Chaos

This entry into my blog is going to be a bit vague as I’m a bit behind and we actually left Laos 10 days ago but here goes!
Compared to every border crossing so far the Cambodia/ Laos was really straightforward, with no nightmares for a change! The only downside was that the police on both sides of the border are completely corrupt and wanted us to pay them for leaving Cambodia and entering Laos. It’s not official but we had no choice other than to pay them.
We got a bus and then a boat to Don Det, one of the 4000 islands south of Laos, right on the Mekong river. The island was completely secluded and so untouched by tourism aside from a few small family run bungalow resorts and restaurants.
After arriving the 2 of us and 5 others that we met along the way booked out 4 bungalows and went for dinner to get straight on the beers after a long journey. We had a lovely meal on the riverside, aside from the fact that the Mekong river is not pretty to look at at all! After that it was back to the bungalows for a few more drinks until it was lights off at 10! The whole island’s electricity is run on a generator which shuts down every night at the same time, which wouldn’t be a bad thing except that without electricity we had no fans and so had to suffer in the morning heat in our tiny bungalow!
The following morning we booked ourselves onto a day trip to see the Khan Phapeng waterfall, which is the largest waterfall in South East Asia…but as it’s on the Mekong river it’s hardly nice to look at but it was worth the visit. After that, the 7 of us squeezed onto the tiniest boat, which barely fit us all in, to a tiny deserted island for a BBQ and drinking games, with only us and our Lao tour guide around. It was so deserted the island had no facilities which meant no toilets! Overall it was a great day spent with a great bunch of people.

After spending a few days on the lovely island of Don Det we moved on to head up to Vang Vieng to go tubing…. The moment we’d been waiting for in the whole trip! It took us a while to get there, and when we finally arrived at lunch time we dropped our bags off and headed straight for the river to tube! For those of you who have never heard of tubing, it’s the strangest concept… You pay a deposit for a rubber ring, you get on the river (not the Mekong!) and float down it, stopping off at the loads of makeshift bars en route. The river runs through the middle of the mountains and the scenery is absolutely beautiful, not that many people take any notice of the surroundings!

The bars start filling up at about 11am, when everyone is already drinking whiskey out of buckets and raving to the music blaring out all day. One day we were there at about 9.30am, and were some of the first people out. At every bar there are rope swings or zip slides where people are doing flips into the water and so on…probably not the safest thing to do when you’ve been drinking, but in the 7 or 8 days we ended up staying there, we only actually saw one injury!
In the time we were there we had 2 days off where we spent the day by the pool. We met a cool bunch of guys from London who we’ve actually ended up staying with till now, 3 weeks later. Our whole time in Vang Vieng was pretty much a blur…. up early every day to go tubing, and then drinking all day till the early hours (don’t worry mum we were safe and well looked after)!
As soon as the sun goes down in Vang Vieng, the weather turns ice cold, which we were not expecting at all! Why does the Lonely Planet guide not mention this?! We were completely unprepared for the weather, and only had one pair of jeans each and one thin hoody which we ended up having to wear every night we were there! Gross, I know…
I would love to write more about Vang Vieng but I just don’t remember that much, and every day was pretty much the same! After a week it came to the point where our poor bodies could take no more and we all decided to leave. The boys headed straight to Bangkok; Keeley and I went up to Northern Laos to go to Luang Prabang, our last stop in Laos.
The journey to Luang Prubang was the worst by far. I know I always mention bus journeys, and it can’t be interesting to read, but this one is worth writing about…The roads in Laos are notoriously bad, although apparently they have been greatly improved in the last few years which makes me wonder what on earth they used to be like! We drove even higher up into the mountains on roads with giant holes in, not potholes, actual holes the size of a bus. Next to the giant hole would be a sheer drop straight down the mountain side. The bus would have to move in a way that made it sway from side to side, so much so that everyone on the bus (the girls) were screaming for their lives! It wasn’t just the thought of falling from the side of a mountain, the thought alone that the bus would topple over was bad enough. It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to make a phone call to my friends and family!
After surviving that ordeal we arrived in the even more beautiful city of Luang Prabang, even higher in the mountains and even colder! We met up with a Dutch couple we met back in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and went bowling! The bowling alley is the only place open late in Luang Prabang as there’s an 11.30 curfew. Most people at the bowling alley are completely drunk but needing a detox, I didn’t touch a drop. We had a great and random night bowling, where I unfortunately lost every game! It seems bowling just isn’t my thing!
The next day we went with the Dutch couple to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls which are spectacular! We climbed all the way to the top which was hard work, but we got great views of the waterfall and of the mountain tops. Afterwards we dived into the waterfall into freshwater pools, which of course were freezing cold, but it was the nicest water we’d been in, even nicer than what comes out of the shower in our crappy guesthouses!
After the waterfall we visited the bear sanctuary. We were also told part of the trip was to visit a tiger sanctuary, but were then told the only tiger actually died ages ago and so we were conned out of that part!
We got back into town just before sunset, in time to climb the 400 steps to the top yet another mountain to a temple, where everyone goes to watch the sunset over the mountains. Another great sunset to add to the collection!
From Luang Prabang we needed to arrange a way to get to Bangkok without going back the way we came… and without flying due to the problems at the airport. After going into every travel shop it seemed the only way to get there was to go back the dreaded route along the mountain side, only this time for the 9 hour journey we were on a locals bus, which meant being surrounded by no Westerners, and instead, bags of rice, vegetables and live chickens! I suppose at least it made our journey that bit more entertaining.
And so we arrived at Vientiene, ready for yet another border crossing into Thailand. We spent just over two weeks in Laos; I absolutely loved it but could take no more of the crazy culture, although coming to Thailand has been no different! I will update again soon when I feel normal again…

Cambodia - best place so far!

And so we arrived in Cambodia, and yes you've guessed it, we had another disastrous journey! We arranged to go on a 2 day boat trip up the Mekong delta from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, thinking it might be a nicer alternative to yet another awful bus journey. We could not have been more wrong! On day one after 3 hours on a bus we reached our tiny motorboat to see some sights on the river. First of all was the floating market where all the Vietnamese buy and sell fruit and veg in the morning, however this had already finished so there were just a load of empty boats and some old fruit floating in the water.
Next they took us to a little village where we had to ride old bicycles with flat tyres and no brakes to a restaurant where they served lunch. The food was so expensive and with no other choice we decided to go without. After this, back on the boat to a bus where we spent the next 5 hours. This was not on the schedule, so as you can imagine everyone on the trip who was expecting a nice relaxing tour was fuming. We were dumped in a hotel in Chau Doc, on the Vietnam-Cambodia border, which had no electricity throughout the night, and nothing in the area to see or do. The following day they had us up at 6am to get back on the bus to see more pointless sights, such as a fish farm and tribal people who were obviously putting it on for the tourists. Eventually, after more drama involving a slow boat with a broken engine, and yet another bus journey, we arrived in Phnom Penh $34 lighter and in a foul mood!
Thankfully Phnom Penh was great. We arrived at a really good time, Independence day followed by 3 days of water festivals to celebrate the end of the rainy season. The city was buzzing and the atmosphere was brilliant, we couldn't have been there at a better time. We jumped on a tuk tuk to the lakeside where we checked ourselves in to a floating guesthouse. It was actually built over the lake and flooded every night when, like clockwork, there was a torrential downpour!
After a massive lie in the next day we strolled along the riverside to watch all the provinces of Cambodia compete in boat races. The streets were full of locals who were all having a great time cheering on their teams and getting involved in the festivities. The moment we arrived here we noticed the difference in the people, they are all much friendlier than in Vietnam and China.
That night we sat at a roof top bar, treated ourselves to a bottle of sangria, and watched the fireworks displays and general hustle and bustle on the streets below.
The next day, feeling recovered and ready for some culture, we headed to the S21 museum, which is where people were held prisoner during the Khmer Rouge takeover in the 70s. The 4 buildings were originally a school, which they turned into torture chambers, which has now become a museum. You can walk around it and go in the tiny cells, and even see the scratch marks in the walls, whether these are real or not i don't know. The whole thing was pretty horrific; they had photos up of all the people that were taken there during that time, too many to look through properly, but there were men and women of all ages, including young children. After the S21 museum we were taken to the killing fields, which is were people were taken by the truck load to be killed. In the middle of the field is a memorial building containing items of clothing and human skulls that were found over the years in the field. As you can imagine it was an emotional day, much like the War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh.

We left Phnom Penh after a few days to beat the crowds down to Sihanoukville, with no such luck. Sihanoukville is a lovely beach resort on the south coast of the country, a popular holiday destination for Cambodians, especially during the festival. Unfortunately, it is also a popular destination for sex tourists, but thankfully they go to another beach so it wasn't too obvious to us. With loads of backpackers hostels dotted along the beach we managed to find one with free accommodation, no catch, completely free! Completely understandable when we went into the dorm and saw where we were expected to stay! It was fine for 2 nights until Keeley woke up with a cockroach crawling over her and we decided to find somewhere else to stay, and when we found somewhere and saw we had sheets, a clean towel and a bathroom that wasn't outside, we thought we'd found heaven!
Sihanoukville was amazing, we had beautiful sunshine everyday and the beaches were perfect, white sand and lined with palm trees. It really did feel like paradise. My favourite part of the day was at about 5.30, when we'd plonk ourselves into a bucket chair, order an ice cold beer for 50 cents, and watch the sunset over the islands in the distance. And then... once the sun went down, the music was pumping and the bars that lined the beach would start the happy hours! The nightlife here was brilliant, and thankfully we met so many people, every night was better than the one before.
One day we booked a booze cruise. Leaving at 10am and having a Jagerbomb for breakfast on the crammed boat, we headed to an island for cliff jumping, then to Bamboo island where they fired up a BBQ, mixed the cocktails and blared out the reggae! We met some really cool people that day who we ended up spending all our time with. For the first time since we've been away we stayed put for 8 days and relaxed in the sunshine, feeling like we deserved it after spending so long living by our alarm clock.

One day when the weather wasn't great us and a few others rented motos and went on a ride along the coast, going to all the beaches that we hadn't seen before. Along the way, we randomly came across a load of monkeys sitting on a fence, they were hilarious! They stared at us and came over until we gave them all the food we had....we had to throw crisps to get them away. Then the big mamma came and that was when we freaked out, jumped on the motos and sped off! I didn't really want to get on the wrong side of her, she was huge! We then went to a snake and crocodile farm... it was pretty small and pretty crap, a waste of $3, but Keeley and i got to hold a Burmese python! Didn't even flinch...

From Sihanoukville we decided to arrange our Laos visa..big mistake. It cost us 54 dollars and was due to be back at the travel agency in 3 days, so we thought instead we would collect it when we got the next bus... So, when we eventually decided it was time to move on we reluctantly left Sihanoukville and took a 10 hour bus to Siem Reap. But beforehand, we had to collect our passports, but were they there?! The guy told us the taxi had broken down the previous day and so our passports were stuck in Phnom Penh. Thankfully our bus to Siem Reap stopped in Phnom Penh en route. But... we had no idea where we had to go to meet the guy who had them. Eventually we agreed that a little Cambodian guy would come on the bus with us and help us pick them up in the 20 minute stopover between buses. We were not at all satisfied with this but had no choice as we had no passports and were in the completely wrong place to do anything about it. When we arrived in Phnom Penh it was all go... i left Keeley with the bags stopping the next bus from going anywhere and followed this little guy who spoke no English to a petrol station, where we found another guy sitting on a moped waving our passports in the air! I love how they have no concept of our important these things are, but as always, it all worked out in the end!

When we arrived we absolutely loved it, it wasn't at all what we were expecting. The main part of town where we were staying was really pretty, with loads of bars and restuarants that were lit up at night in a way that would make you think you somewhere a million miles away, not somewhere as poor as Cambodia. The plan was to stay just long enough to see the temples. but instead we decided to stay an extra night.
There are markets galore in Siem Reap, selling all sorts of crappy souveniers and trinkets. I did buy a few things made of Cambodian silk for a few dollars, and although i could have bought more i just don't have the space in my backpack. Also in the market was a place where you can have a 'fish foot massage', where you put your feet in a pool of water full of tiny fish and they eat the dead skin off your feet! It was completely gross but i gave it a go before it freaked me out so much i had to get out... i only lasted a couple of minutes. What a wierd experience! One thing i wish i had done was got a 'seeing hands' massage by blind people, but by this point we'd spent too much in Siem Reap so i had to give it a miss, although now I've heard the massages in Laos are just as good.
There were enough restaurants here that we could have gone to a different one 3 times a day and been there for weeks. Also the nightlife was booming; the bars were packed full of backpackers all night long. We actually bumped into one of our mates who we met in Beijing and then again in Hong Kong, which was an added bonus!
Last day in Siem Reap we headed to the temples of Angkor for sunset, which was really impressive. The temples are really beautiful, but after 4 hours i think we'd had enough. Some people get a week pass to see them all, but there are just so many you'd be walking for 12 hours a day, everyday. We got our tuk tuk driver to take us to the main temples, which are Angkor Wat, and Ta Prohm where one of the Tomb Raider movies was filmed.
Overall i've loved Cambodia, it is my favourite place so far. It is so chilled out and there is so much to see and do. To top it off we've met some brilliant people who i expect we will be meeting up with along the way.
As usual i could go on typing forever, but at the moment we are in a place called Kratie en route to Laos and the electricity goes off in most places at night, so i have to stop myself!

Good Morning Vietnam...

And so after 31 long and exhausting hours of switching countless trains/ buses and taxis and going through border control we arrived in Hanoi, the capital of the north. It was hot and muggy and as usual we were so tired after yet another painful journey! We headed straight to a backpackers hostel that we'd heard about, booked ourselves into a mixed dorm, showered and got downstairs in time for happy hour! We had a few drinks and got chatting to the other backpackers before giving into an early night.

The following day we thought we deserved a treat and so we went to a spa where we had aroma therapy massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. It was the perfect cure after a stressful couple of days! To make sure we didn't completely waste the day away being pampered, we went to the 'Hanoi Hilton', Hoa Lo Prison. This has now been turned into a museum, so you can walk through it and see the conditions in which the Vietnamese prisoners were kept by the French, it was pretty horrendous stuff.

With not a lot else to do in Hanoi (aside from loads of drinking) we booked our boat trip, which is 3 days visiting the surrounding islands. Every backpacker in Hanoi does this trip, and we were lucky to have such a good crowd on ours. We headed to Halong Bay which is a beautiful collection of islands (i think just under 1900 altogether) and visited the caves which are apparently natural but looked like giant water features! Back on the boat we had the first of many tasteless and boring Vietnamese meals (these were all included in the price of the trip so were very basic) and sailed through the islands, generally chilling out, having a few beers on the top deck and taking in the surroundings. We arrived at Cat Ba island that evening where we were spending our first night in a hotel (again, very basic). Our guide took us round the local bars on the island where we stayed for a few, but being hungover from the night before we thought it best to save ourselves for the night on the boat! We spent the next day on the back of a motorbike being taken around the mountains on this lovely little island while the others went trekking (didn't fancy it)! Back on the boat it all began and the group of us started drinking til the early hours, ignoring the 10.30 curfew from the captain and then taking our quilts up and sleeping on the top deck rather than our rooms. Downside though was that we had to be up for 06.30 to go kayaking, which isn't the best thing to do with a hangover! I think Keeley and I only lasted about 20mins before we'd had enough, along with everyone else!

They took us to floating villages where people actually live. They have their little shacks and washing lines and even pet dogs - at least i hope they were pet dogs. They came up to our boat on their rowing boats selling us fruit, god knows where they got it from as we were so far out at sea.

After a day of jumping off the side of the boat into the sea and messing around we had to shoot straight back to the hostel to get changed and ready for our night bus to Hue... we don't like to waste any time!

It was on this bus journey that Vietnam decided to show we were still in the rainy season. The heavens opened and we had the scariest 12 hours driving in the dark on bumpy roads in the torrential rain. Unfortunately it was so bad that when we arrived in Hue the raincoats had to come out and the place started to flood so we moved on straight away. Jumping on the next bus we arrived in Hoi An later that night, still pouring down and still in our raincoats. Hoi An is 'the place to go' to get tailor-made everything! Whatever you want just show them a photo and they'll make it to fit you like a glove! It's meant to be the cheapest place in SE Asia for this. Not wanting to carry anymore than we already had in our backpacks we had our measurements taken. They then keep these on file for 5 years, so i can then send them pics of things i like and they will make it and deliver it to me wherever i am in the world... good or what?! I did get some sandals made there... i couldn't leave with nothing! Hoi An is a beautiful place (mum i think you and dad would like it). They have an old town that's really quaint and peaceful, but there's also cool restaurants and a nice beach and plenty to do and see.

Next stop and another overnight bus later we arrived in Nha Trang...this is the party town of Vietnam and we got there just in time for Hallowe'en! They really overdo it here, purely for the tourists sake. Everything was decorated and the staff in every restaurant and bar were in fancy dress offering all sorts of drink deals. So Keeley and I, and an English girl and a Canadian girl we'd met went for dinner in a restaurant where the drinks are served in jam jars and are completely free!! After a couple of jars of stupidly strong rum and coke we headed straight for the bars where I had my face painted like a big kid. Everyone was in costume so we felt a bit unprepared but it was a good night out (from what i remember)! Our hotel in Nha Trang (called Nice Hotel, and that it was) was in a central location and we managed to get the price of a seaview room knocked down a few dollars, so we stayed in real comfort and even had a bath! (You really take the luxuries for granted at home)!

On someone's recommendation, the next day we got the chairlift (the longest chairlift across the sea in the world) over to 'Vin Pearl land' which is quite possibly the most ridiculous waterpark i've ever known. None of the flumes were open at the same time, so after going on one we had to wait at least an hour before we could go on one more and so on. The place was empty and the whole time the likes of the Spice Girls, Boyzone and Ricky Martin were blaring over the loud speakers. It was funny stuff, and i'm convinced the girl who recommended it was doing it for a laugh. A good day for an amazing (man made) beach for catching some rays, but i wouldn't go back in a hurry!

We went on yet another boat trip, this time to the islands around Nha Trang. A bit worried that we woke up to rain, it ended up being a day of beautiful sunshine and great entertainment from our tour guide Loc aka 'Funky Monkey'. This guy was brilliant, he got everyone on the boat of all nationalities to introduce themselves, and then spoke to them in their language. At the end of the day he even sang a song for each country, and these included France, Oz, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada and Israel. He was so funny and really made the day for us. On the trip we went snorkelling and visited all the islands. Then to finish it off they had a floating bar in the sea that we swam out to for Pineapple vodka shakes. It was a perfect day, and our last day in Nha Trang before moving on to Ho Chi Minh City, aka motorbike city.

We met a Vietnamese guy called Qui who's home doubles up as a guest house. He took us in to live with his wife and son! The room is cheap and has everything we need. On our first day here he took us on the back of a motorbike (risky in this city) for a city tour. We just got started, going to Independance Palace and Notre Dame (whick looks exactly like the one in Paris) when we decided it was too hot to be driving through the city, and not wanting to risk our lives anymore, we decided to go to a waterpark instead. Why didn't we learn from the last time?! This place was even worse than the one we went to before! It was so small that we were over and done with in about 20 minutes, and then it started to rain! Stuck there without Qui to take us back we had to stick it out for the whole day in the pouring rain...not the best way to spend the afternoon when we could have been somewhere having a beer! That night we met up with the girls from Nha Trang for dinner at a local Vietnamese market which was an experience. It's not somewhere tourists go, and so we really got to see how these guys live, and i love it! The people down south are much friendlier than the north. Everything is said with a smile and they are so much more polite and genuinely helpful. You really can notice the divide.

Today, we got up early and the 4 of us went to the Cu Chi tunnels, which is quite a moving place. During the war the Vietnamese built tunnels over 220km long with 3 levels underground where they spent most of their lives for nearly 30 years. They cooked down there and even had their children there. We got a chance to go in, but i only lasted 20 metres before i had to get out. They are only just over a metre high so it was so difficult to walk. There's no air and it's so claustrophobic that i couldn't go any further. The other girls couldn't even go down there because the passages are so dark and narrow. I braved it, but never again! It was an experience though. After the tunnels we went to the War Remnants Museum, which was much much worse than the museum in Hanoi. All i can say is i'm dreading the museums in Cambodia, they are all yet to come.

Anyway, i've left the girls getting ready for our last night in Vietnam. We have chosen an alternative route to Cambodia as we cannot face another night bus, and so we are spending 2 days sailing up the Mekong river to Phnom Penh, i can't wait!

Will update soon.

I Love Hong Kong!!

And so we arrived in Hong Kong after a very relaxing 25 hours on the overnight train. It was pure luxury compared to the train we got before, having a sleeper makes all the difference. We were both on the top of the 2 sets of 3 bunks per room, which was OK except we couldn't sit upright and we had to climb over Chinese people to get to bed! But the conditions of the train were excellent, toilets were still squats but they were clean, and we found a carriage with a bar where we spent most of the night drinking cheap beer!

We arrived in Kowloon at 1ish and got in a taxi straight to our hostel, which we had booked from Beijing on the recommendation of a woman we met there who had spent 15 years living in Hong Kong. And so we arrived at the gateway to hell, Chungking mansions (don't be fooled by 'mansions'). It's a tall building with 15 floors, each floor has a hostel that gets cheaper the higher up you go. Ours was on the 5th floor, and they had the cheek to call it a deluxe hotel. All i can say is that if ours was deluxe i dread to think what the others were like. We had a tiny room only just big enough for a bed and our backpacks. There were no windows, an air con unit that was so loud you felt like it would fall through the wall. There were ants in our bathroom and graffiti on the walls. Even worse was when you left the 'deluxe hotel', we had to share a lift down with Africans and Pakistanis, cramming as many of us in as they could. The whole of Kowloon is taken over by Africans and Pakistanis who live there, selling fake everything. You name it, if you want it, they'll get you one for half the price. Worst of all they hovered around the entrance to the building, which at night was like a cage door, and were quite intimidating.

And so, every morning we were up early and out the door, straight onto the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong island. The ferry was great, it runs back and forth every few minutes and only cost $2 HK which is next to nothing.

Our first day we spent wandering through the chaos of Hong Kong. We got lots of tips from the woman we met in Beijing, and so we stopped in the old red light district for a beer to decide what we wanted to do next. We jumped on a tram to go down to the Happy Valley racecourse, which is apparently on every Saturday and Wednesday night, and if you get there at 8pm the drinks are free! Unfortunately, when we go there it turned out races are only on a Wednesday so we missed out on that. Instead we popped over the road to a bar called the Stable and had a drink in there with an Ozzy rugby team who were playing in Hong Kong. I think i preferred that to being at the races!! We jumped on another tram to Lang Kwai Fong, another of Hong Kong's drinking spots. Absolutely loved it there but its not cheap so we only stayed for a few before getting back on the ferry to our disgusting accommodation!

Hong Kong is made up of loads of islands, which i didn't realise, and each one is completely different from the next. We popped over to Lamma island for the day, which is so beautiful and relaxing. We found ourselves a lovely little beach called Hung Shing Ye and spent the day tanning ourselves and chilling out, for the first time in about 10 days. Before the last boat back to HK island we had an amazing dinner, right out of our price range, in a little seafood restaurant overlooking the harbour. We arrived back in Kowloon in time to see the light show, which they do on HK island every night at 8pm. The whole skyline lights up and they sync it in time to cheesy music, it's quite impressive for the first few minutes, but then it's all the same so we left before the rush of people started moving in our direction.

The next day we decided to explore the 'southside' of the island. We got a bus to Repulse Bay, which has a lovely beach, a few little restaurants, and of course a Starbucks and McDonalds, which are on every corner of every street in Hong Kong! We then moved down to Stanley Bay where they have a market, which we missed because we spent too long at the beach! But we did stop for another drink in another bar overlooking another harbour (i'm loving this)! In a place called Aberdeen Harbour they have a restaurant that floats on the river, which apparently is a 'must' for all tourists. We got a 'junk' over to it, but the menu was sooooo overpriced that we couldn't afford to stay. It was so embarrasing because we couldn't just get up and leave, we had to wait for a boat to take us back to the mainland...so we stood there infront of everyone looking like the poor travellers that we are!! But it wasn't all bad because instead we went back to Lang Kwai Fong for a lovely meal in the busy nightspot. We got back to the hotel as late as we could so we spent as little time there as possible!

Up early the next day we went to another island, Lantau. Again, of course, we found oursevles another little beach called Cheung Sha where we plonked ourselves for a few hours. It was completely deserted apart from a nice little Cantonese/South African/ Mediterranean restuarant that served delicious food at a resonable price. Thinking we should do something a bit 'cultural' we got ourselves onto a bus to see the Big Buddha. This was about 30 minutes away and was sitting at the top of a mountain, and it stood 85 feet high. You could see it from most parts of the island. We got dropped off then walked up a million steps to get right up to it, had a look at the view, took some photos, then came straight back down. It was cool, but aside from look at it there was nothing else to do there and so we headed back to get our boat back to HK.

We had prearranged to meet up with some of the guys we met in Beijing which was cool. We went back to Wan Chai, the old red light district, and met them for dinner. We went to a brilliant Thai/ Malaysian/ Indonesian/ Filipino restaurant that had a live band that were so good we were convinced they were miming. We had a great night and it was a great end to a stay in a brilliant city. The hustle and bustle is mesmorising, and unlike Beijing and Shanghai it's actually safe to cross the road! There were no beggars hassling us in the streets. Transport in Hong Kong was excellent and cheap, and their metro system was clean and efficient unlike ours! No one stared at us as though we were aliens like they did everywhere in China. Aside from our hellhole hotel the only downside was it was quite expensive in comparison to where we'd been. It was also so hot that at times it was unbearable (which is why we always found a beach)!

We only spent 4 or 5 days there, but I could easily go back as there is so much more i'd like to do. We never got up to the peak, which gives you great views of the whole of Hong Kong island. And i never got to see the Pandas :o(

I would recommend Hong Kong to everyone, just stay away from Chungking Mansions!

China continued...

So... after the hellish journey that was the train from Shanghai we arrived in Beijing feeling tired and irritable. We jumped in a cab to the Saga Hostel, which we luckily asked an English speaking Chinese guy to book for us from the train! Our first day in Beijing was a bit of a wasted day. Determined not to give in and get in bed we had a little wander around the surroundings which turned out to be the Forbidden city. After hearing that this place takes a good few hours and not feeling in any way up to it, we headed straight for one of the drinking areas, Sanlitun. We had a few beers and watched the world go by until we decided it was time to go back and recover from the train journey. The little Chinese women of our hostel let us take over the lobby as we brought down our quilts, ordered loads of coffee and watched DVDs till bedtime, ignoring all the other travellers as they came and went!!
Feeling refreshed the next day and having spoken to some other travellers we headed over to the Birds Nest Olympic Stadium which was pretty impressive. And as an added touch they even play the sound of birds tweeting over the speakers!

Next stop was the Summer Palace which so far (aside from the Great Wall) was one of the places i enjoyed most. Even without taking in the history behind the Emperors etc there was still so much to enjoy. (Basically what i'm saying is that we didn't really take any notice of that)! It's a beautiful place that you wouldn't expect to exist in Beijing. There are temples galore set amongst a massive lake with mountains in the distance. We took a dragon boat along the lake in time to get some brilliant photos of the sun setting. All my pics from the Summer Palace are on Facebook, there are just so many. After walking forever around the lake we felt like we deserved a drink, so we headed to another of Beijing's drinking spots, Hou Hai. This place was impossible to find but when we did it was completely worth it. There are hundreds of little bars set along a river booming out reggae music with never ending happy hours. We stayed there for a cocktail or two and wandered around the bars til we could go no further, and so after a few headed back to our cosy little hostel ready for our 7 am start the next day.

After getting up early feeling nice and moody, we joined the rest of the guys from our hostel, 2 Ozzies, 2 Yanks and a Swede for the bus trip to the Great Wall of China. About an hour and a half away, it was worth the journey! When we arrived, the first step was to take a ski lift up the side of a mountain. With Keeley being so petrified of heights it was just hilarious, she couldn't look the whole way up and we were on it a while. Once we were at the top the Wall went on as far as they eye can see. We had 4 hours at the Wall which is apparently long enough to get to the furthest point allowed then back again. Well, with our little crew which by now was the 2 of us, the Swede and the 2 guys from LA, we walked as far as we could, stopping every few minutes to take yet another photo which looked just like the one we'd taken before. I pushed myself as far as possible, it was so hot up there and it's so steep that we must have only got half way when we decided to turn back. And it's no easier walking back either! Once we were back to the starting point there are two options, back on the ski lift, or a toboggan right to the bottom. And so in we got, in the tiniest toboggan, screeching the whole way down! It was such an experience, and its so cool to be able to say i tobogganed down from the Great Wall of China! Once we were at the bottom we sat and waited for the others, comparing stories about parts of the world and drinking beers the size of wine bottles!
The rest of the day was a bit wasted, until later in the evening we went out with a different crowd from the hostel for Peking duck, the delicacy of Beijing. I ate it til i could eat no more, and now i don't want to see another crispy duck pancake for the rest of my travels!
After an exhausting day we decided to spend the next day doing the final touristy things....the Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square. The Forbidden City i think we managed to get through in about 45mins (rather than the 3 hours people had told us they spent there). We took a couple of photos so we can say we've been, but overall it wasn't our cup of tea. And aside from that there were so many Chinese tour groups with their matching caps that it was difficult to get to read about anything anyway (that's my excuse)! There's not a lot to see at Tian'an Men Square, in fact i don't think i took a single photo, but there is a lot of history behind it and it's a place that everyone who visits Beijing must go to. For once the history didn't involve the Ming or Qing dynasties or any Emperors and so i was actually interested!
And finally, to finish off our time in Beijing, we visited a night market, expecting to see some bargains. Instead when we got there it was a food market, and the only things on the menu was whatever they could put on a stick.... seahorses, scorpians, starfish, beetles and so on. As you can imagine, we suddenly realised we weren't hungry! But it was interested to see, and moreso, to see the Chinese people eating it all so casually! And so this was a nice little peep into the Chinese culture before moving on to our 25 hour train journey to Hong Kong...

First stop...China

Hi all,

Well so far so good and i am actually entering my first post onto my blog.

So...here goes... We landed in Shanghai to immense heat and humidity which was unbearable but expected. After checking into our hotel we went for a stroll and ended up in the Old City at a place called Yu Gardens & Bazaar.

This is how you imagine China to look, stone dragons and red lanterns everywhere and oriental style buildings down narrow passageways. They even had a Starbucks that fitted right in! We came across this place completely by accident and ended up going again because we loved it so much, aside from the Chinese who will push and shove you all over the place. Apparently this is standard in China and so we've started doing it back!

The following day we walked through a place called Nanjing Lu which looks like Shanghai's equivalent of Oxford Circus. The hustle and bustle is crazy and there are people coming up to you from all angles trying to sell you a Cucci or Prado handbag.... or buy a hat and get a rolex free! It's probably a good thing we don't have the space in our backpacks for anything else because it was shopping galore. We even took a tram ride through the centre and never even saw it all, the shops and department stores just went on forever.

Later we met a very nice Chinese couple in People's Park who wanted to practice their English and so we went to a Tea Party for traditional Chinese tea. You learn all about the history and different types (over 1600 in China) and so on, much more interesting than i thought.

We attempted the Shanghai museum but i am sorry to say i'm just not interested! I love China but there is only so much i need to know about vases and paintings from different dynasties and so on. I think we lasted about 30 mins before we had to get out of there.

We walked to a place called the French Concession, there is a whole history behind the place that i won't bore you with, but it was like being in a part of London with the quirky bistros and boutiques, which i really didn't think i'd be seeing in China.

Later on we went to the Bund which overlooks the river Huangpu with Pudong on the other side. The buildings on Pudong are like something out of the future, and the Bund looks very much like Westminster! We went on a boat trip to get amazing views of both skylines lit up at night time. The river divides the Bund and Pudong, so you get some pretty cool views.

We saw the Shanghai of the future at the Urban Planning Centre where they think in a few years time the city will have massively expanded. The city really isn't how i imagined it as it's all so modern and advanced. If it wasn't for the billions Chinese people and noodle bars on every corner you could be at home!

After we had done and seen everything we wanted to we decided it was time to move on to Beijing which is a 13 hour train ride away. What we didn't know was that in order to guarantee a 'sleeper' ticket on the train you have to book days in advance. On top of that it was also a Chinese public holiday and so there were loads of tourists from Beijing going back home. So... unless we wanted to stay in Shanghai longer we had to get a stand up ticket. That was the worst decision of my life! We were in a standard train carriage filled with as many people as they could cram in. Those fortunate to have the right ticket had a seat, the rest had no where to go other than the aisles/ toilets and under people's seats. We were so lucky that 2 Chinese men gave us their seats for the entire journey otherwise i don't know how we'd have done it! To get up to the toilet you had to step over people trying to sleep on the floor and it wasn't easy, and also the loos were just a hole in the ground, so neither of us drank a drop until we arrived in Beijing! Aside from feeling like I was in hell for the longest 13 hours of my life, i can laugh now that we got here safe and sound, but never again!

I'm not sure i've done Shanghai justice but i know i have a tendancy to go on and if i don't stop now i'll be typing forever. I absolutely loved it, except the men are gross and spit everywhere and there are beggars on every corner, but it is a great place for all interests and we ticked every sight off the list in the Lonely Planet guide and more.